Nails ;~ like a suntan nice nails are a mark of attractiveness as they are tacit signals of wealth, if you have time to get a suntan you don't have to work therefore you have money, therefore you are attractive. With nails it is a sign that you are not doing manual work, doing lots of laundry, scrubbing floors or cooking would all have taken their toll on hands and nails, meanwhile the lady upstairs would not have t do anything beyond a bit of needlework and practise piano and pour tea. Nicely polished long finger nails suggest a lack of manual work, and the free time to tend to them.
Of course all this is no longer relevant but it is so deeply embedded in our culture that we still respond. Nice nails even with only a clear polish say feminine, this is something we can embrace quite easily. Personally I am very lucky in that I have quite small hands so if my nails look good, a couple of dress rings along with my own wedding ring and I think my hands look very feminine.
As for toe nails, I love the summer when ladies start to wear sandals and I can enjoy their nicely painted toe nails, I also love to paint my own, somehow this seems truly indulgent and almost an epitome of elegance. Of course the whole effort is spoilt by hairy toes after all we are not hobits!
